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Hidden Fields

A hidden field within an HTML form is the simplest way to do session management. A hidden field is like any other INPUT FORM entity; it is simply not displayed by the browser. It can be inspected using, for example, the "View Source" option of the browser, where it will look something like: <input type="hidden" name="SID" value="XYZZY8765765vk5ht">.
 

 
Whilst hidden fields are a simple technique for state maintenance, they are not a general solution, since they only work in the context of a sequence of FORM submissions. For more generic applications, another technology is needed.
 
Lecture 8: Web Commerce Technologies Copyright © 2005 P.Scott, La Trobe University Bendigo.


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